Overview

This study describes and evaluates the main trends in Soviet Russian prose and poetry since the death of Stalin in the light of the cultural, ideological, social and political developments of the past quarter-century. It relates the literary history of the period to the evolution of Soviet literature as a whole, and is the only study to approach the topic so comprehensively and in such depth. Professor Brown begins with an account of the general literary situation as it evolved during this period and describes how the Soviet literary community is organised. He then examines Soviet poets who have written since 1953 and traces the general thematic and stylistic trends that their writing represents. Beginning with Akhmatova, Pasternak, and other members of the generation of Soviet poets who established their greatness before the Revolution, the author discusses this and each succeeding generation. He concludes with a consideration of the post-World War II generation as exemplified by Voznesensky and Evtushenko.